Community College Musical
by toomanyfandoms67
Summary: Annie convinces the study group to audition for Greendale's production of "Grease". Jeff is reluctant at first, but uses this as a way to get closer to Annie. Feelings surface for Troy and Britta. Mid Season 2. Jeff/Annie. Troy/Britta. Abed/Mystery Woman.
1. Why Not?

**A/N: So I'm not really sure when this takes place (possible after S2E06 'Epidemiology') because Annie and Rich never _really_ dated, but I like the idea, since it would probably make Jeff pretty jealous. Anyway, I'm not really used to writing fanficton, so here's my first real swing at it. Enjoy!**

* * *

Jeff stumbled into the North wing of Greendale Community College. He looked to both his sides – twisting his head only slightly, as too much would rouse a sharp pain in his neck – and when he saw no familiar faces (aside from his elderly nemesis, Leonard, who lounged in his usual spot), he continued down the brightly lit hallway towards the library. He suffered from a tiny headache from the intensity of the fluorescent lights above. Disgruntled, he stuffed his hand down his bag, shuffled through the mess for a bit, and a tiny hallelujah chorus sprung into his head as he felt a cold, plastic pair of sunglasses crushed under a pile of English notes. He flipped them open and placed them on his nose carefully, as though any sudden movement would cause him to collapse.

"Good morning, Greendale!" Dean Pelton's cheery voice echoed through the hallways just as Jeff's headache had finally subsided. The feedback from the intercom microphone screeched, and he winced before trudging along the seemingly endless hallway. His headache was back.

_So much for sunglasses,_ he thought.

Jeff lost his focus for a moment, and jumped as he realized he was seconds away from running into the library window.

"Jeff!" Six excited voices exclaimed in perfect unison. He flinched before opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey… guys!" His mock-cheery voice was less than sufficient.

Annie looked at him and frowned. "Have… you been drinking?"

As Jeff found his chair, he breathed in heavily to regain balance. "What? No. Of course not."

A few "Mmhm"s and moans of disbelief broke around the table.

Britta, Shirley and Troy looked at him with slight disappointment, while Annie and Abed studied him intently. Pierce didn't seem to care.

Jeff felt Annie stare at him, and for a moment their eyes met before he looked away, embarrassed. He had suddenly remembered why he had gotten so drunk the night before.

_Rich._

From the moment they met, Jeff was not on good terms with Dr. Rich Stephenson. It was bad enough that he showed up Jeff in Beginner Pottery class, leading to the whole "Ghost" incident and leaving Jeff humiliated, but now he was dating Annie. _He doesn't deserve her,_ he kept saying to himself, and although denying at the surface his feelings for Annie, couldn't bear to see her 'belong' to someone else and hoped for nothing more than to see Rich get slapped in the face. Preferably by Jeff himself.

Still a bit disoriented, Jeff could have sworn that he had heard Annie say, "Is this about Rich?"

"What? No! Of course not."

The whole table stared at him in confusion. There was a very awkward pause.

"Anyway," Annie said, drastically changing her tone. "I have some news for you guys!"

"Is 'Annie's Boobs' back?" Troy exclaimed. "I miss the little guy."

"No, it's even better than that."

Troy looked up quizzically, as if wondering what could be better than a pet monkey named after Annie's boobs.

"The Drama Club is putting on a production of _Grease_! They've been short on actors since the paintball war, and they're opening auditions next week!"

The room was silent. Abed snapped his fingers and pointed at Jeff. "You could be John Travolta."

Annie grinned and nodded excitedly. Jeff imagined himself wearing a leather jacket and riding Greased Lightning, smiled faintly for a moment, then shook his head in disgust.

"Whoa, wait. A musical? You want _me_ to be in a musical?"

Shirley finally spoke up. "I think she wants _all_ of us to be in a musical."

So did Pierce. "What? A musical? Oh, I've been in one of those in my day. _The Wizard of Oz_ in my second year of high school. I was the Tin Man. I tried to make passes at Dorothy during rehearsals, but she trained the dog to bite my penis every time I did. Worst three months of my life."

"The Drama kids always scared me in high school," Troy reminisced. "They dressed like French people and called me Seaweed."

Abed smiled vaguely.

"I'll do it!" said Britta, unexpectedly.

Jeff glared at her as if to say, "Stop it, you're provoking them!"

"This may come as a surprise to you, but I've always been a fan of the theatre. _And_ I've been taking Modern Dance for a year and a half."

"I'm in," said Abed. "I might get to wear a leather jacket. Plus, this could end up being very interesting for our group. It could change our whole dynamic. We could be – " he paused and lifted his opened hands dramatically – "_Actors!_"

Jeff pulled off his aviators. "No, Abed. Don't get sucked into this."

Shirley giggled. "I've never been in a musical before! If you guys are doing it, then so am I."

"Ah, what the hell." Troy grinned. "_Grease_ was awesome." He and Abed exchanged their special handshake.

Jeff groaned.

"Count me in," said Pierce. "As long as there aren't any dogs."

Annie grinned from ear to ear. She turned to Jeff, who was rubbing his eyes. He looked up at her for a few seconds and watched as her smile faded a bit; eyes fluttered, and Jeff immediately recognized the signs of the "Disney Face". No, he wouldn't give in. He stared into her dewy eyes, and almost imperceptibly (though Annie saw it) he shook his head.

Annie gave up and her expression once again became disheartened. "Fine. I guess I could get Rich to audition. He _loves_ musicals."

_Of course he does,_ Jeff thought, amused.

_Wait, what? Rich?_

"I'll do it!" The words spewed out of his mouth almost immediately. "Yeah, sure Annie," he said, trying to sound a bit more cool. In the spur of the moment, he regained his ability to sound sincere. "Why not. It'll be fun!"

Annie's mouth opened slowly as if she was about to shriek with joy. The gang cheered and laughed. Jeff grinned and watched his friends in the cheery uproar he had created.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he mumbled.

* * *

Troy was walking down a dimly lit hallway when he "accidentally" stumbled upon the drama room entrance. It had flyers plastered along its walls and windows, many indicating the school's lack of interest in the dramatic arts with mostly blank spaces on all the audition sign-up sheets. However, one sheet hung on an empty bulletin board. One space on this new sheet had a familiar name written on it in large, bubbly letters and a heart following it: _Annie Edison._

Troy sighed. He scanned around him thoroughly, made sure he wasn't in anybody's sight, and did a double take when he saw the Greendale Human Being standing completely still at the opposite end of the hallway. _He won't say anything, _thought Troy. He grabbed the pen that was suspended by a thread taped to the wall and wrote his name in the tiniest letters he could possibly produce. He dropped the pen and strutted down the hall once again, only to run into a blonde head that was just exiting the drama room.

"Troy! It's nice to see that you've finally put your name down." Britta grinned. She looked like she had accomplished something by seeing Troy sign up for the musical.

He grew embarrassed when he realized what he was really doing. "I don't see _your_ name on the list," he retorted.

"Well I was just about to, I mean, I was just in the drama room looking for…"

Troy smiled. "You're scared."

"What? Me? No," said Britta. She tried to smile back casually, but her lips trembled while trying to hide her discomfort. All the blood from her body seemed to rush to her cheeks at once.

"I get it. I'm a little nervous about this, too. But we're doing this together. At least it's not just you."

_Yeah, _Britta thought. _Jeff's going to be in it. How weird is _that _gonna be?_

"I mean, yeah, it's gonna be a little weird," said Troy. He stopped, as he wasn't so sure why he was saying this. Why was he trying to comfort Britta? He wasn't prepared to be in a musical at all. This was a far cry from the person he was in high school. "Let's just try this. And if it all goes to crap, we'll have a laugh about it later."

Britta stared into Troy's eyes. He was really being genuine. She wondered why she had never seen this side of him before. His words eased her nerves a bit, but when she realized that she was staring, she looked away and her face burned again.

She regained composure after a few seconds. "I'm signing up for this thing," Britta breathed. She walked over to the bulletin board and signed: _Britta Perry._ She turned to her friend and smiled. He smiled back.

_That wasn't so hard, now was it?_


	2. The Spectator

**A/N: Hey! Thanks so much for the reviews. They actually mean the world to me. ****It took a while for my mind to shit out this chapter, but I had fun with it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Also, I realize my chapters are really short. I'm sorry. But at least that makes me update faster! *_yaayy!*_**

* * *

"Hey, Annie. Rich."

"Hey, Jeff!" Rich and Annie sat cross-legged on a huge picnic blanket on the quad. There were two baskets filled with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and little containers with fruits were spread across the blanket. It reminded Jeff of when Annie dated Vaughn; quiet picnics on the quad, romantic music (though Rich didn't play it on his guitar while half-naked; he had _some_ class). At least, he thought, Rich wasn't a shirtless neo-hippie who brainwashed Annie with all his world-peace-y spiritual shticks. Still, Rich made Annie happy; happier than she ever was when with Jeff. While staring, he couldn't help but notice Annie's expression. She seemed to be lost in Rich's eyes, perhaps not even listening to what he was saying. Then Jeff realized that he wasn't listening, either.

"Jeff? Hey buddy, are you okay?"

Jeff quickly broke his gaze. He smacked a friendly smile on his face for Rich. "Yeah, great. Just stopping by, thought I'd say 'hi'."

"Annie told me that you're auditioning for the school musical. I didn't know you were into acting!"

"Oh, yeah," Jeff replied confidently. He stared at Rich for a moment, for once in a long time not sure what to do with his mouth. What the hell was happening to him? Maybe it was old age getting the best of him, or Annie, who was watching him like an excited seven-year-old in a classroom — and he was the teacher. Jeff swallowed and tried his hardest to ignore her presence, and his mental dam finally burst:

"I've always been a theatre kid. I just love the feeling of pure ecstasy when you first step onstage and smell the velvet curtains, see the glowing spotlight…it's just wonderful. Most of all, I love _acting._ It's always been my one true talent. It makes me feel like life is really worth it, you know?"

_Stop it, Jeff. You're pushing it._

"I played Captain Hook in my freshman year of high school," Jeff continued. He really had; that part wasn't a lie. But it wasn't a great experience. His fondest of high school memories certainly didn't entail him dressing up in tights and a fake moustache.

"Since then, I knew I wanted to be an actor. Too bad the best I could do was _lawyer._" Jeff laughed. So did Rich. They discussed plays for a few minutes; Jeff smiled and nodded and pretended like he knew all of the plays Rich mentioned. They had a few more hearty laughs, and then Rich began packing up. He took Annie by the hand gracefully and stood up in front of Jeff.

"You're a really cool guy, Jeffrey Winger."

Annie looked down, perhaps trying to conceal the disappointed look she was sure to give him.

"You are too, Rich." They shook hands and the couple walked away, leaving Jeff standing alone in the middle of the quad.

_Wow,_ he thought. _I didn't have to lie _that_ much._

He brushed the thought away, however, and instead decided to take pride in what he'd just done. Rich didn't need to know the real reason Jeff wanted to be in the musical. Though it bothered him a little that he wasn't sure why Rich wasn't trying out as well. For some reason, it made him uneasy.

The little tense feeling in his gut was replaced by a jolt in his heart when he heard Abed's voice come from behind him.

"I think Rich doesn't want to be in the musical because he's afraid he'll show you up again and he doesn't want things to be bad between the two of you anymore."

_Shit, Abed! You don't just sneak up on people like that._

"Well that's sweet, Abed," said Jeff, and beginning to get very irritated, he walked away.

Abed followed. "You're doing this because of Annie, aren't you? And you know that if you could woo Annie with your acting skills–"

"I _have _no acting skills."

"I dunno, Jeff. You've got the silver tongue. You can convince anyone of anything just by talking. I think you could be a great actor. Anyway, Annie said that she was really excited that you decided to audition."

Jeff stopped walking. He turned around and looked at Abed sternly. Abed stared back at him studiously. "Of course she's excited. She's excited that she's sucked everybody into doing something _she _wants to do, because _that's how Annie is._ If you're implying anything else… I don't want to hear it."

Jeff stormed off. His footsteps seemed to make the ground shake. Abed cocked his head to one side and watched Jeff in intrigue. He wondered if anything else he could say would make Jeff feel better, and shook his head, because he knew that he wasn't an expert on interaction, therefore his skills in solace were probably just as, if not more, feeble. Many times, Abed wished desperately that he could just fix things; rather that being a third-party observer, he could be the one to provide emotional assistance. He had always admired Britta for her ability to do that, even while many people took that for granted. But for the moment, Abed was just Abed: The Spectator. Nothing more, nothing less.

The school bell rung. Abed raised his arm to check his watch. _Time for class._

* * *

It was 1 o'clock in the morning and Britta had spent three and a half hours of the night scrolling through her Dashboard. She had been seeing the same kind of pictures all night: cats, cats dressed up in funny costumes, cats that look like Hitler, et cetera. Her back was aching from leaning forward to look at her desktop screen, and as her eyes got dewy, she wondered if it was time to go to sleep.

_One more picture,_ she thought weakly.

After several more pictures, she sat back in her chair and yawned. Maybe it was time to sleep. She stretched her arms and moved her mouse to close the browser window, but…

Suddenly, she saw Annie smiling in her mind, and then Troy and the sign-up sheet. Then she remembered the audition date. _Thursday, February 3rd. _That was a day and a half from now. She wasn't prepared at all.

Britta typed _Grease_ in her search engine. She read through the synopses of the movie and the musical and tried to recall the film she'd watched over fifteen years ago. After almost endlessly researching the roles and listening to all of the music, she realized that she was very fond of Betty Rizzo. She was brave, confident, beautiful… and could probably seduce any man she wanted. And apparently, she got pregnant with some greaser named Kenickie.

_What if,_ she thought wildly, _Jeff and I played Kenickie and Rizzo?_

She chuckled at the thought. That could be pretty awkward, considering how no one knew what her and Jeff have been doing for the past few months. It was clear, however, to both of them that it was purely sexual, and there were no mentions of _relationships_ or _feelings_ throughout the course of their little endeavours. So what would be the harm in them playing opposite each other?

And then she thought of Troy. It was he who had _really_ convinced her to go through with this in the first place. Britta felt much more at ease at the thought of acting with Troy. He was a great friend and he truly had a sensitive side that she could connect with, something that she had only seen in Jeff whenever he made his famous speeches, but even that was just a bunch of fake schmaltz.

In the middle of listening to "Those Magic Changes", Britta left her desk and closed all of her bedroom windows. She really did need sleep; her mind was flying all over the place, thinking back and forth from Troy to Jeff to the musical. She decided that it was easier to simply not think at all, so she crawled into her double bed and stared at the blank ceiling. It took a few minutes for all the thoughts to leave, but her head was finally clear. Little stars started forming before her eyes while the room was becoming seemingly darker. She became relaxed to the point where she couldn't feel her body anymore; like she was weightless, and there was air below her where her bed was supposed to be.

All of a sudden, the tiny stars started to fade, and she saw no more of them. Just a wall. A blue wall, just like in the study room. She felt something crawling up her arm and shuddered, but she couldn't move away no matter how hard she tried. As the thing that was touching her reached her shoulder, she recognized that is was a hand. Britta turned her head to side and saw four fingers and a thumb with creamy, dark skin. The hand moved down to her waist and caressed it, its touch sending warmth up and down the rest of her body. Looking down, she realized she was wearing nothing but her undergarments.

She breathed in heavily as the warm sensation reached her face, and she could feel her cheeks burning. "Troy" was all she could utter.

Troy stepped in front of Britta, held her hips, and was now looking her straight in the eyes. Britta's hand reached for his face, touched it softly and stroked his cheek. Troy looked longingly at her neck, and then her lips. His eyes changed a bit, though. They looked guilty, as though he really shouldn't have been doing this. But he couldn't wait for much longer. He gradually succumbed to his primal urges and leaned into Britta. His lips felt her neck gently, and then they opened and began kissing. At the nape, his tongue slid out, causing Britta to tilt her head back. She gasped, but Troy grabbed the back of her head and pulled it towards himself, now kissing her lips slowly. They stumbled over to the table and began to hear "Those Magic Changes" play over the intercom. Britta's hand slid onto the table, and soon Troy followed. Her other hand slipped under Troy's shirt and Troy, who was leaning over her, pulled it off, and Britta could see his dewy, bare chest right in front of her. She breathed out heavily and pulled him in until the tip of her nose touched his abdomen, reached for his belt and began to undo it. It slipped off very easily, to her surprise. The zipper, however, wasn't so kind to her. She tugged at it for minutes, but it wouldn't give.

"Having some troubles?" Jeff's voice inquired from above her.

Britta looked up and gasped. Sure enough, Jeff Winger's face was staring back at her. She shrieked and quickly let go of his pants, and soon her head was spinning as if she had been holding her breath for a long time.

All she could seem to say was, "Why are you here?" She said it over and over again until she was no longer looking at Jeff, but at a large fluorescent light bulb on the study room ceiling.

Britta started crying. Very hard.

Then she woke up.


	3. Bagel

**A/N: Well, that was quite a lengthy hiatus. My apologies; it's not always easy to find time to write.**

**I love Abed so, _so_ much, and I really wanted to do him justice with this one. Not entirely sure what I did here though... I kind of just wrote and things happened. I'm hoping you'll actually enjoy it. Peace!**

* * *

"How hilarious was Duncan in Anthropology today?"

The study group shared a reminiscent laugh at the lunch table. As Jeff continued with cracks at their Anthropology 101 professor, Abed, who in fact did enjoy Professor Duncan's drunken shenanigans, remained silent ― as usual ― and listened attentively to the rest of his friends' conversation.

Jeff did a surprisingly accurate impression of drunken Professor Duncan. "Anthropology," he bellowed in a slurred English accent. "The study of man!" He held out his right hand and wiggled his fingers. "First lesson: these are called…_fingahs!"_

The group burst out laughing.

"Heehee!" exclaimed Shirley. "Or how about when he started dancing to "Shiny Happy People"? I've never seen anybody dance like _that _before!"

"Man, Drunk Duncan's the funniest," said Troy.

Annie chuckled. "When is he ever _not_ drunk?"

"Well, he isn't so much fun when he's sober," said Britta in a grumpy tone. "I wasted a whole year getting 'guidance' from him. Total waste of time."

Pierce coughed very loudly and yelled "Buzzkill" very indiscreetly.

"Anyway," Jeff interjected. "I hope he doesn't go anywhere. Anthropology is the _best_ blow-off class _ever_. I'll drink to that." Jeff lifted his milk bottle in air and took a swig.

"Mhmm."

"Amen!"

"Hey," Pierce said suddenly in a loud whisper. "Everybody, 3 o'clock."

Everyone turned their heads in different directions. Troy whipped his head around frantically trying to find his 3 o'clock. "No, you idiots!" he snapped.

His friends' faces looked slightly appalled. Jeff's head was still turned, however.

"You see it, Jeff? Hot blondie with big boobs."

Annie looked, too. "Ew, Pierce! She's like, a third your age."

"Yeah, Pierce. Come on, she's…" Jeff stopped. He stared at the girl a few tables over for a few seconds. "Excuse me one moment."

He abruptly left the table. As he walked towards her, he slowed down, changed his walk into more of a confident strut, and the group watched intently. He opened his mouth to speak, and the girl turned around so that finally, everyone could see her face. She wasn't drop-dead gorgeous, but she was definitely a sight for sore eyes at a place like Greendale. There was something very welcoming about her face (perhaps it was her delicate features) when she smiled lightly at Jeff. Everyone had their eyes squinted or their heads cocked to the side, trying to figure out what he was saying, except for Abed.

Abed, who always had eyes on everybody; Abed, the master observer, could not, for a moment, take his focus away from this girl. It could have been her eyes, which were so attentive, yet veiled her emotion ― a rarity in pale eyes. Her lips were opened just enough to show her slightly large front teeth. On a conventional scale of beauty, Abed would have given her an eight-point-five; maybe even a nine if she was smiling with her teeth. She looked curiously at Jeff when he spoke. However, when she began to speak, she could not look him in the eye. By the apparent end of their conversation, she was looking down, brows furrowed. Abed wasn't sure what to make of that.

Jeff walked back to the table, his strut losing its bounce with every step he took. Eventually, he sunk back into his seat between Annie and Abed. He tried to stifle an exasperated sigh, but that was even more of an indication of his embarrassment.

"What's the matter?" said Pierce. "That P.Y.T. didn't get a slice of the Winger Pie?"

"If you want her, you can have her." Jeff mumbled.

Annie let out an offended "Ugh!" "Why are you always objectifying women? They're not just toys you play with and give to the needy when you're done with them."

"Hey, who said I'm needy?" Pierce cried defensively.

"And who gives their toys away?" said Troy. "I still have all of mine in my dad's basement. Even those giant Legos they used to make before Legos got so complicated…mm, those were the good days."

"I agree with Annie," said Britta. "It's so sick how you constantly use women for your own personal, horny gain. Have you _ever_ had a real relationship?" She looked down right after she said this, as she couldn't bring herself to look at Jeff anymore.

_God, I'm such a hypocrite._

"What, those 'real relationships' you're always yappin' about? They're garbage! I've been married _seven times_, and look where I am now. An old fart who stares at young women he'll never get to sleep with."

"A_nd_ who isn't regular," stated Jeff.

Britta started yelling at Pierce, and soon it escalated to a loud, rowdy fight where everybody's words were jumbled together and nothing really made sense to Abed anymore, who wasn't taking part in the argument. Without attracting anyone's attention, Abed slipped out of his chair in hopes to get another bagel.

He eyed the counter, hoping that his favourite was still there. Most of the bagels were gone, but there were two sesame seeds and one blueberry left in the basket. He subtly pounded his fist in the air, and halfway to the counter, he felt his head shatter and his entire left side crash into an oncoming body. He stumbled back, almost falling over. As he regained his balance, he noticed that there was no one in proximity. He did a 360 and still saw no one.

_Did I just crash into a ghost? Is there a ghost here?_

"Hello?" he called. "Is anybody there?"

"Oww…" a voice croaked from below.

Abed looked down and found a blonde girl, about his age, crawled up on the floor in pain. It was the girl from before; the one Jeff was hitting on.

She held her head in agony, and then looked up. Abed immediately stuck out his hand. "Here."

She moaned in pain before taking his hand and was pulled up to her feet. She wiped the dust off the back of her pants quickly and adjusted the rest of her clothes. Abed found her taste in clothing generally desirable; the burgundy blazer on her back accentuated her figure in a way which was very alluring, and all of her accessories coordinating perfectly, with the exception of her bright red backpack straps. Even in her two- to three-inch heels, she was nearly a whole head shorter than him, and really had to look up to him to make eye contact. When she did, her eyes lingered around his face for a few seconds, then she finally took in the situation.

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Oh, God, do you have any bruises? Here, lemme see… Oh, God. There's one on your arm. I am _so_ sorry! I can be so clumsy sometimes." She hit her forehead a few times. "I should really watch where I'm going…" Her speech faded as she pulled off her back pack and began to shuffle through it. From all of the noise she made, Abed figured that the backpack was cluttered. He also noticed the design on the front of it. "Rainbow Brite" was printed in bold, bubbly letters above an image of a little girl riding a rainbow-haired horse. It seemed like it came from a children's TV show from the 80s, which intrigued Abed. He's seen very few people carry backpacks like that.

The girl finally pulled a white box out of her strange bag. She opened it and stuck her fingers in, looking through its many contents, and then frustrated, she slammed it shut. "Um…oh God. What do you use for bruises? ...Ice? _Shit_." She swallowed nervously. Never looking directly at Abed, she stuffed the first-aid kit back in her bag.

"Oh, man. Are you really hurt…um, sorry, I never got your name?"

"Abed."

"Abed. Are you okay, Abed? I should really take you to the nurse's office, Abed."

Abed watched her inquisitively. He noticed that she never blinked as her eyes flew around anxiously.

"I'm fine," said Abed in his usual, emotionless tone. "But you were the one who was knocked down, so really _I_ should be asking _you_ if you're okay."

The girl gazed at Abed in confusion. Abed cocked his head forward, attempting to appear as considerate and caring as he could. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yes," she said. "Yeah, I'm fine. My head's just throbbing a little, that's all. I think I'll just take a Tylenol later. They usually help me when it comes to accidents (which, now that I think of it, I get into a lot), and even when I just have headaches." She took a pause, realizing she was rambling. "Hopefully I don't run into you again, Abed. I mean… you know what I mean. Literally. I hope I don't _physically _run into you. I wouldn't mind seeing you again on campus…"

"Should I take you to the nurse?" inquired Abed.

The girl stared at him for a moment, as if unsure how to respond to his unusual response. Then she smiled and looked down shyly, brushing her hair away from her face. She got a little pink around the ears.

"I should be fine," she said with a smile, though this time, it was a full smile. Teeth and all.

"Cool." Abed blinked at her, and then proceeded to get his bagel. "Cool, cool, cool."

As he left her and approached the food counter, his eyes fell upon the last, shimmering blueberry bagel that lied in its basket like a baby in a cradle. He licked his lips and was about to go in, when his body surprised itself with a mini heart attack.

_Her name,_ he thought. _I don't know her name._

He dropped the bagel in his hand and rushed back to the spot where he crashed into the mystery woman. She wasn't there, however, and Abed panicked a little. He spun around and scanned the cafeteria. No "Rainbow Brite" backpacks were in sight. Clearly, she had already left.

Abed returned to the study group's lunch table. They all looked like they were on good terms, just like when they got there fifteen minutes ago. Knowing Jeff, Abed guessed that he made one of his "fix-it" speeches that always brought the friends back together. Though Pierce still looked a bit grumpy. Then again, that was probably due to his medication.

"Hello, Abed," Shirley said sweetly. "Where have you been?"

"Just getting a bagel."

"Oh, well, where is it?"

Abed looked in his hands. There was no bagel. A silence fell upon the group as they watched Abed closely, as if he were some foreign species. Then Troy smiled at him, and everything felt okay again.

"Hey, man. Cut me some bagel," said Troy eagerly.

Abed pretended to break a bagel in half and even gave the bigger half to Troy. They cracked a few jokes at Britta's expense ("BAH-gul!") and the whole group joined in. Britta tried not to look bothered. The teasing eventually stopped and they moved on to different topics, like school and people and movies; ones in which Abed took very little interest, because he couldn't stop thinking about the girl with the backpack… the one he might never see again because he didn't even know her name.


End file.
